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Police Story: Collector's Edition (US - DVD R1)

Gabe starts catching up on Jackie Chan's early career, and loves it...

Feature

Chan Ka Kui (Jackie Chan) single handedly captures a crime lord after a sting operation goes violently wrong. To ensure the crime lord is convicted of his crimes, Chan must protect the lord's unwilling secretary (Brigitte Lin). Events are put into action, and Chan finds himself struggling to save his life and the secretary's, all while keeping his girlfriend happy. When Chan is framed for the murder of another police officer, there's no turning back.

I'm not very well schooled in the cinema of Jackie Chan, I must admit, and his lacklustre American efforts haven't made me care enough to seek out the master's backlog. I've seen Drunken Master II, Police Story III: Supercop, and Armour of the Gods II (which I've been told are the man's finest work), and I loved them all, but I've always found the horror-hybrids and wushu period pieces of '80s and early '90s Hong Kong cinema more interesting. I apologize to Chan fans everywhere for my basic ignorance on the man's work.

After Rumble in the Bronx saw a US release, I remember seeking out earlier Chan work with friends, but the only movies we could find at our local video store were the Fearless Hyena films and Police Story II. I wasn't impressed, and assumed for years and years and years that if Police Story III was such an improvement on Police Story II, that the same must be true for the original Police Story. It makes some sense. I didn't realize that Police Story was Chan's career breaker. Thanks to my new best friend Bey Logan's commentary track, I now know the importance of this film to Chan's cannon, and in turn the greater Hong Kong action cannon.

First of all, for those that didn't already know, Police Story is not a comedy. I had always assumed that pretty much all of Chan's work was comedy. I know, I'm ignorant. Though there are a few funny scenes, the majority of the film's action is not slapstick oriented, to the contrary it's surprisingly violent. The opening shoot-out/car chase is a bit over-the-top (in both physics and performance), but has a mean edge to it, and the final beat down would make Steven Seagal proud. The funny scenes are never related to the life and death struggle of catching the bad guy, they consist of fake fights, girl problems, and Abbot and Costello operating services.

The serious tone even finds its way into Chan's performance, which is shockingly good considering the Jackie I'm used to seeing. Chan gives himself a solid breakdown scene, where he ends up taking his own police chief hostage out of desperation. I'm personally used to seeing the Clown Prince of Kung Fu as a goof ball or, as seems to be his fate as of late, a straight man to some American comedian. The idea of acting in '80s era Hong Kong cinema is a little less subtle than most Western audiences may be accustom to, but even by modern standards this is surprisingly emotionally affecting stuff. There's even a reasonably suspenseful courtroom battle.

Amongst all this grit, grime, and genuine drama, is the crown jewel of the film, the action. The films first and last reels are some of the most invigorating I've seen in quite a while. With the advent of DVD extras I can learn all about how brutal some of these stunts really were. Some of those extras leaping out of the way of on-coming cars didn't make it, and those guys dropped on moving elevators didn't have much in the way of padding. Even star Bridgit Lin was seriously injured when she was thrown through a pane of glass. This is the real deal, no strings or digital enhancements. If it looks like a fall or punch hurt, it probably did. Superb.

Video

This Collector's Edition DVD looks pretty damn good for a 21 year old film. There's a lot of grain, and some artefacts, but it's all pretty fine, and is evenly textured so as to not be too distracting. Colours could use a bit of a bump up, but look accurate and are vibrant enough to earn a pass. Details are sharp considering, and black levels are deep without loss of image. There are instances of the anamorphic image compressing horizontally on the edges of the frame. This could have to do with improper mastering (perhaps the film is supposed to be 2.40 or 2.45:1), but more likely has to do with the original D.P.'s filming process. This is not uncommon, especially in the lower budgeted Kung Fu field, and is mostly allocated to scenes featuring tracking or dolly shots.

Audio

The sad thing here is that the blasphemous English 5.1 dub has the best sounding effects track, though it was probably greatly re-recorded in the dubbing process. The two Cantonese tracks (5.1 and Mono) are surprisingly similar. Neither track is very dynamic, and effects, dialogue, and music can be jumbled a bit. This is probably very true to the original recorded tracks, which is most likely thin. It doesn't hurt the film, and it's most likely the best the DVD's producers could manage without replacing effects and music (which is a big no-no for fans especially).

Extras

The extra features start with a standout commentary from Bey Logan, who all my UK friends already know from the Premier Asia line. I've just gotten to know the guy over two DVDs, and he knows his Hong Kong cinema like no one, and ranks with Tom Mes and Kim Newman as far as information per second on commentaries. Unfortunately, Logan is joined by the infamous Brett Ratner, the painfully pedestrian director of Red Dragon and X-Men 3. Ratner also made the passable Jackie Chan American made Rush Hour films, so you might think he has some insight. Either Logan talks too fast, Ratner is too into watching the film, or Ratner doesn't know a damn thing about the film or Chan, because he adds nothing but insight into which sequences are "awesome".

The Rat finds his way into a short featurette entitled A Tribute to Jackie Chan by Brett Ratner and Bey Logan. Basically, Logan introduces the fact that Chan had little success in Hollywood, then gives Ratner too much credit for making the first successful American made Chan film. Anyone actually paying attention in the mid '90s will remember that about a million of Chan's films were re-released in American cinemas to decent numbers, indicating the star's interest in crossing over. In tribute, Ratner basically goes over his favourite scenes. From a purely personal standpoint, Ratner rubs me the wrong way, the way he speaks, his image, etc. This hatred is unfounded and rude, and I do apologize to his fans, but frankly, I hope he doesn’t show up on any more of these Dragon Dynasty DVDs, maybe Tarantino can grace us with his presence next time.

The deleted and extended scenes are the most important feature, next to Logan's commentary. It would be best to have included an addition Logan commentary with the scenes. The alternate opening is more light hearted, less to-the-business as the final cut, and contains a lot more of Jackie's singing. The alternate ending is the one that needs explaining, as it sees Chan carted off in handcuffs after beating the bad guy senseless. The reason for this is that some East Asian countries require (or required at the time) anyone breaking the law in a film to be punished, even if he or she is the hero and in the right. This section also contains a montage of split second additions from a longer cut, which are marked within brief clips with a quick 'deleted scene' display, and the end credit outtakes minus the credits themselves.

The East end point of view is covered in two interview segments, one with Chan the Man himself, the other with the man's stunt crew. There are quite a few good tales of battle here, and though some are also covered by Logan on the commentary, it's good to hear these tales from those that lived them. Chan expresses the fact that he wishes behind the scenes documentaries were the norm when he made the film because there were lots of accidents and hardships that would've made for interesting entertainment.

It all comes to an end with some trailers, including the awful re-release trailer from Dragon Dynasty.

Overall

I'm so happy to have seen this film. It's one of the finest martial arts action films of its era, and should satisfy even the most rabid Hong Kong fanatics. Of course, I'm sure everyone here already knew how good the film was, and those folks should be happy with the A/V quality. The extras are a tiny bit weak, just above average, and are hurt by the presence of Brett Ratner, who just isn't a charming lad.

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Brett Ratner - he seems to have appeared in various extras to do with Jackie Chan since making the rush-hour films. However in all honesty I don't know why he keeps appearing in these extras. As has already been said he seems to have little or no expertise in the subject beyond the average fan.

Tarantino - I think with his reputation as a massive fan of Hong Kong cinema I'd be interested to hear him give a commentary. I generally find his commentaries extremely interesting and would love to know if everything that is bandied about about Tarantino is truth.

Bey Logan - I agree his commentaries on the premier Asia label are not as impressive as his Hong Kong legends commentaries. However I still find them worthy of a listen and generally better than the average movie commentary.

Police story - I can't say I was all that bothered by police story and police story 2. I found police story 3 head and shoulders above both the original movies and it's sad to see that no where in the Western world is there a decent DVD release. I can't believe it hasn't even been released in the UK at all. I own the US poorly dubbed, poorly substituted rap music over the original music and awful picture. I wish it was available singly instead of that Hong Kong/Korean box-set. There's a movie that's well overdue a decent release.

Chris Gould wrote: I think that's a bit harsh. While his PA commentaries aren't as informative as the stuff he does for HKL, they are still a lot better than most commentary tracks. Agreed but tbh Mike Leeder may know his stuff but unlike Bey isn't remotely as interesting to listen too.

Bey while interesting to listen to knows squat about non-HK films. The ones I've listen too often swayed into HK films (What?) and general banter.

Chris Gould wrote: He has a good rapport with Mike Leeder, and the track he did for the Ichi the Killer DVD (with Elliot Tong and Alien Sun) is great. I've not heard that one, the film looking too extreme for me. Same goes for Volcano High as I thought the DC was really poor so couldn't bare to see the IC.

Chris Gould wrote: I was disappointed by the Bichunmoo track though. That and the Musa one were poor. The point for me, having heard his tracks for HKL where he's clearly in his element with so much information thrown at you by the second it's disappointing to hear Bey's non-HK tracks when he doesn't have huge amount to say.

I think that's a bit harsh. While his PA commentaries aren't as informative as the stuff he does for HKL, they are still a lot better than most commentary tracks. He has a good rapport with Mike Leeder, and the track he did for the Ichi the Killer DVD (with Elliot Tong and Alien Sun) is great. The Taegukgi track is also pretty good, as is the Volcano High track. He makes some valid points about the shorter 'International' cuts of certain films, although I know that his views are controversial. I was disappointed by the Bichunmoo track though.

A lil off topic, but personally I love Tarantino's commentaries. He's funny, has good amounts of info. He is seriously a filmopedia as in probably you could show him any movie and he would have tons of facts about it.

Sjekster wrote: @ reviewer: I think Brett Ratner is kind of annoying, but you want Tarantino on the next DVD??? He's about the most abnoxious person existing on this planet. Also, what does he have to do with Jackie Chan / Kung Fu films, other than being an irritating fanboy? He makes great movies, but enough with the Tarantino worshipping already! I'd rather see a real HK cinema expert appear, who has worked in the HK industry, for example.

Tarantino, like Bey Logan, despite his obnoxious speaking tones, is pretty much an expert on this stuff. Ratner proves on the commentary that he knows dick. If he knows more than dick, he's not a good enough commentator to earn the post.

And to whomever asked, there is no mention of Chan's upbringning on the DVD, for the most part, so Hung is not mentioned. I find personally that through reading various books on the subject that I actually know more about Chan's entering the field than his films.

I hear DD used a seperate english dub. I actually liked New Line's dub. The lip syncing was waaay off and the guy trying to immitate Jackie's voice sounded awful but I thought the acting was good overall. Certainly better than your standard anime dub.

If there were a New Line version it would only include the English dub only so not much competition IMO. The IVL does look better IMO but then to be accurate that is Interlaced with an out of sync Mono soundtrack (so I hear).

I'm not surprised the English dub sounds better no doubt they had free reign to add lots of new foley affects which can either enhance but usually goes completely the other way and sound atrocious.

I'm glad for the Cantonese they aired on the side of caution and didn't bother.

Personally I'm not a fan of the film but if I were I'd probably pick up the IVL HK box set (containing easily the best version of Police Story 3, which Dragons Dynasty don't have the rights to).

p.s - Bey Logan is better known for his HKL Commentaries than Premier Asia ones (which the latter IMO are really poor).

I do somewhat agree with you, but what does Sammo has to do with this DVD release?

@ reviewer: I think Brett Ratner is kind of annoying, but you want Tarantino on the next DVD??? He's about the most abnoxious person existing on this planet. Also, what does he have to do with Jackie Chan / Kung Fu films, other than being an irritating fanboy? He makes great movies, but enough with the Tarantino worshipping already! I'd rather see a real HK cinema expert appear, who has worked in the HK industry, for example.

I wonder if they acknowledge Sammo Hung as being the person that got Jackie into the industry and also influenced his choreography in this film. Not bashing Jackie or anything, he's talented, yes, and he did add to the genre in his way, but if it wasn't for Sammo, he wouldn't be where he is today! Sammo I think is underrated as a choreographer. In fact, much better than Jackie! If anyone's seen Sammo's old films, he's created some of the most complicated and amazing choreography and stunts too! But, Jackie does bring it up on the pain factor later on. Still, I think people should give some recognition to the Big Man for his hand in the 80s martial arts boom.